


Forever Yours

by Urby



Series: Azurrin Week [6]
Category: Fire Emblem: If | Fire Emblem: Fates
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, F/F, Selkies, Urban Fantasy
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-08-11
Updated: 2017-08-11
Packaged: 2018-12-14 04:59:23
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 8,096
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11776008
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Urby/pseuds/Urby
Summary: Every summer, Corrin gets to spend a week with her best friend. Her siblings don't know that said best friend is a selkie. Azurrin Week 2017, August 11: AU





	Forever Yours

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Trigris](https://archiveofourown.org/gifts?recipient=Trigris).



> I didn't want this one to end. I love monster people and I was thinking of making a story about sea dragons, but in the end, I went with one of my favorite shapeshifters: selkies. Azura as a siren or mermaid has been explored beautifully by several artists, but I can't think of any who have done selkies before.
> 
> There were a lot of things I wanted to do with this fic, but some things had to be scrapped in order to do make the story coherent and not any longer than it already was. I wanted to give Azura a Vallite family, but in so doing I couldn't get the Hoshido family involved, so they don't show up. (Maybe Xander and Camilla worked with them for plot reasons, but they're not namedropped any)
> 
> Content warnings: nonsexual nudity (selkies must be naked to transform,) and people eating sushi with forks (they're Nohrian, forgive them.)

Corrin never saw much of her adoptive father. He made sure she had a nice room and paid for her tutors, just like the rest of his children, but he never went out of his way to reward her for anything she did at school. Or pay much attention to her at all, except to correct her posture at the dinner table.

It would have been lonely if not for her siblings. Xander was busy with work - something about the family business - but he was kind enough to help Corrin with her extracurriculars. Camilla had ears everywhere, it seemed, and would always come into Corrin's room with some book or game she happened to want at the time. When Leo deigned to leave his room and visit her, they would talk about books and movies, inventing alternative endings and characters. And like any good little sister, Elise made sure Corrin always had someone to play with and would never be able keep a diary private.

One day, Camilla came in with a sunhat. Corrin blinked as Camilla fitted it on her head. "Thank you, Camilla," Corrin said. "I don't think I need this indoors, though."

"You don't, though you will need it on the beach so you don't burn your pretty skin," Camilla said. "Won't you come with us to the beach house?"

Corrin's eyes lit up. Her siblings sometimes spoke of the beach house and the nearly-private beach nearby. She had always dreamed of it, but had never gone herself - Father always kept her here, saying someone should watch the main property. It was something she supposed she should be proud of, having such responsibility when she was barely over ten, but there were plenty of live-in servants that took care of the mansion much better than she.

"How come I get to come this time?" she asked.

"Because Father is too busy to come with, and there's room in Xander's car. Don't worry, we already asked. Father says you can go."

"Really?"

Camilla's expression softened. "Would your big sister ever lie to you? Come on. Let's go shopping for a swimming suit to match your hat."

* * *

The beach was like something out of a storybook: fine, pale sand, glittering water, and a sky rich with the coming twilight. It was always grey and gloomy with smog back home in Windmire, but there was such open brightness here that Corrin could barely contain herself.

"I want to go swimming!" she declared, almost pawing at the car door as they pulled up to the beach house.

"It's almost evening," Xander said. "We should eat first. There won't be any fresh food at the house, but there should be enough cans for everyone to have a meal..."

"I left popcorn last time," Elise piped up. "We can watch a movie!"

"Did we bring any movies?" Leo said over the book he was reading.

"You should have reminded me," Camilla's voice was mildly apologetic. "We have plenty of movies here, though!"

" _Falchion Friends_! _Falchion Friends_!" Elise chanted, bouncing in her seat. " _Falchion Friends Sing-Along_!"

Leo's groan could have echoed across the beach, if the windows had been open.

"Leo! Corrin's never seen _Falchion Friends_!"

Corrin put her head on her hands. The beach was so _perfect_... "I want to go swimming," she repeated, more softly this time.

"It'll be cold out, sweetie. We can go to the beach all together tomorrow, after breakfast!" Camilla reached back to give Corrin's hair a ruffle.

The beach house felt infinitely more homey than the mansion. Maybe it was because it was just her siblings, maybe because eating out of a can was one of the best ways to eat beef stew, maybe it was the sound of the waves. Waves that seemed to beckon, gently, gently...

* * *

The morning was cloudless and warm and for the first time Corrin knew what it was like to have sand under her toes and how chilly a wave could be if you weren't prepared for it. She laughed to the open sky and started chasing after gulls with Elise close behind, wondering what was going on that was so exciting.

"Don't go off too far!" Xander called from under the parasol he'd set up. Leo was balled up underneath the shade, nose buried in a new book.

"Okaaaaa-y!" Elise shouted over her shoulder.

"Elise!" Corrin said, clawing in the sand. "I found a shrimp! Oh, it got away..."

"Leo and I found crabs once! One of them pinched his finger, it was funny!"

"There are crabs here?" Corrin beamed, standing up. "I want to see!"

"Crabs are pointy! I'm going to build a sandcastle," Elise declared, brandishing a toy shovel and a bucket.

"Crabs are near tide pools, right?" Corrin said, trotting towards the rocks that formed pools. Elise looked a little sad that a potential building partner had deserted her, but perked up when Camilla came to join her.

The beach was just outside the back door of the beach house, and open only to residents of the neighborhood, so it was totally empty of people. It was easy for Corrin to see where her siblings were, even if she wandered off. There were some seals that sunned on the sand some distance away, but the treasure she was after was just up ahead. The tide pools were full of colorful creatures - pointy crabs, little fish that darted for cover, anemones that curled up when she dropped pebbles on top of them.

She hadn't anticipated how cold she would get after getting wet and sitting around in the seaside wind, though. She shivered and wished she'd brought a towel.

...There was a dry, folded thing on the other side of the tide pools. Corrin looked around for anyone else and found no one - just some footprints in the sand. She made her way over the rocks and found that it was some kind of animal skin. She didn't know enough about how animals unfolded to be sure what it was, but it looked like some kind of sea mammal, with its short paws.

"This is warm!" she said when she wrapped it around her neck. It was just the right size for it to drape across her back. It could even wrap around her whole body! Now she could play in the tide pools all she wanted and not waste time shivering! Her siblings would be amazed at what she'd found! Hm, maybe Elise would think an animal skin was kind of gross. Maybe she could bring back a crab, so that she could bother Leo with it...

"Excuse me," she heard from behind her. She looked over her shoulder.

A girl about her age stood on the rocks, mouth set in a stern expression. The other girl's hair was as blue as the sky above and long enough to trail in the pools. Her eyes were like polished golden coins, and her skin about as pale as Corrin's.

She was showing a lot of skin, actually. That was kinda weird for a girl her age. ...Hey, wait a minute...!

"Where's your swimsuit?" Corrin asked. "You're naked!"

"Swimsuit...?" the girl frowned. She shook her head, holding her hands out. "Please give my pelt back," she said seriously.

Corrin blinked. "Your what?"

"My pelt," the girl said, her hands making grasping motions. When Corrin didn't move, the girl's expression fell. "Please," she said, her voice wavering. "I need it."

Corrin realized that the girl was talking about the animal skin. "Oh, this is yours? I'm sorry. I didn't mean to take it," she said, gathering it in her hands so she could pass it over.

The girl took it and stared at it, as if she hadn't expected to get it back. She hugged it to her chest, draping its paws over her shoulders. "Thank you," she murmured.

"My name's Corrin! What's yours?"

Gold eyes fixed upon hers. After a moment, the girl said, "I'm Azura."

Corrin beamed. She hadn't been on the beach for more than a few hours and she already made a friend! "Azura! You should put that on before you get cold!" she said. "Do you like crabs?"

"Yes, I do."

"What do you think of this one?" Corrin asked, holding up one she had found.

Azura squatted nearby and scrutinized the crab like someone who was intimately familiar with them. She crinkled her nose. Something shimmered near her face as she did that. "It's too small. Wouldn't be good eating."

"I don't want to eat it!" Corrin laughed. "I just want to make it pinch my brother."

"Put it back," Azura said. Corrin let it crawl back into the water.

Azura was...really quite pretty, up close. She reminded Corrin of some of the more popular kids at school. Unlike those kids, Azura seemed to want to talk to her. Corrin was glad for that.

"Oh! Um," Corrin began.

Azura looked at her, eyes wide in an unsaid question.

"You...have whiskers?"

"I do," Azura said. The whiskers, white against the sunlight, moved as she spoke. They seemed to shimmer as the light passed between them. She considered Corrin's face. "You do not." She touched Corrin's hair. "Your hair is white like my whiskers."

Corrin allowed the touch. Azura's fingers were gentle. "Are you a cat person?"

Azura hesitated. She looked away, towards the seals. Corrin looked at the pelt draped around Azura's shoulders, and then at the seals. A few of them were looking back at them, and even inching closer.

"Oh! I read about this in books! You're a -- you're a," Corrin said, touching her lip in thought. "A selkie?"

"That's right," Azura said. "Do you live here?"

"No, I'm just here for the week," Corrin said. The seals were getting close enough for her to see that they had golden eyes like Azura.

"You migrate like we do!" Azura said, smiling for the first time. It was so pretty that Corrin smiled back.

"Do you swim in the ocean? I swim sometimes but it's only in a city pool."

"My pod travels the seas, every year," Azura declared, puffing her chest out proudly.

Corrin's eyes were wide in admiration. "All seven of them?"

Azura held her pose for a few seconds before deflating. "Maybe just some of the seas," she said.

"Okay." Corrin turned back to the seals. They had stopped some distance away and seemed to be watching her casually. She didn't feel threatened. "What's the coolest fish you've ever seen?"

"I once ate a whole tuna!"

Corrin knew tuna from cans. She'd never seen a real live one before, but it must have been significant if Azura brought it up.

"I...ate a quail once," Corrin said, trying to sound important. "The whole thing."

"A quail?"

"It's a bird," Corrin said. Hopefully Azura wouldn't ask how big it was.

Azura's eyes went wide. "I've never seen anyone catch a bird before," she said. "You must be a really good hunter!"

Corrin grinned. She'd managed to impress Azura! But, she heard Camilla's voice calling her back. "I think my sister wants me back for lunch. Will you be here tomorrow?"

Azura glanced at the seals. Then, she nodded.

"Okay! I'll see you later then!"

Corrin tromped her way back across the beach to where her siblings where. Camilla draped a towel over her shoulders.

"Did you have fun at the tide pools, sweetie? I saw you with another girl!"

"I did! Her name is Azura and..." Corrin trailed off. She wasn't sure if anyone would believe her new friend was a selkie. "She's just visiting, like we are."

"Well, you can tell us all about her over some lemonade. Leo's had enough sand for one day and he's starting to complain."

* * *

Corrin spent most of the week at the beach playing with Azura under the watchful eye of her siblings and the seals. When the week was over, she promised that she would be around next year. Azura didn't seem convinced, but she said it would be fun if they did see each other again.

Sure enough, the next summer, Corrin ran to the tide pools, looking for a sealskin or a girl with long blue hair. When she found neither, she made her way towards the seals that were sleeping on the sand.

"Hi! My name is Corrin!" she said. A few seals opened their eyes. Some were black, some were gold. One of the golden-eyed seals, a small one, flopped her way over until she could stand and reveal herself.

"You came back!" Azura said.

"I sure did! Hey, do you want a sandwich?"

"What's a sandwich?"

"It's delicious," Corrin said, producing a tuna melt. It vanished down Azura's throat almost instantly, and she pronounced a short second later that it was indeed delicious.

They traded tales of the ocean's wonders and the land's dramas. They swam together and watched clouds and sunsets. Azura would sing, sometimes, and she had one of the most enchanting voices in the whole world. They were only together a week out of each year, and while it was too short of a time, those days were the least lonely for them.

"Is the ocean a dangerous place?" Corrin asked one year.

"It is," Azura said. "We lose some of the pod every year. Some to sharks, some to boats and poachers."

"Oh. I'm...I'm sorry about the boats," Corrin said. "People are jerks."

"I've never seen you on a fishing boat. You're not one of the jerks," Azura said.

"I'm still sorry you have to put up with them."

Azura shrugged. "We don't have to deal with your 'politics', at least. Your father sounds like he fights hard to be mayor of Windmire."

Corrin fought the urge to roll her eyes. "At least people don't die because of...never mind. Let's talk about something else."

Azura looked at her with a calm expression. "Why do you want to know if the ocean is dangerous? You usually want to hear about nice things."

"Oh! Um," Corrin fiddled with some of the bows on her swimming suit. When she was far away from the beach, she would daydream, sometimes, of bringing Azura home, of showing her all the things they could only talk about. "I wanted to know because that's where you live! I want to know lots about you!"

Azura didn't say anything. Instead, she gave Corrin's cheek a nuzzle. Her nose was cold and her whiskers ticklish, but Corrin's skin was warm for days where Azura had touched her.

* * *

For Corrin's 18th birthday, Father had been gracious enough to let her and her siblings stay at the beach house for a whole month. She was practically bouncing in her seat the whole way.

"We're gonna get so~ooo tan!" Camilla sang, rolling her window down for some fresh air. "One month, no responsibilities!"

"No homework! No lessons!" Elise cheered. She gave Corrin a big hug. "Thanks, big sis, for sharing your birthday present with us!"

Leo hadn't uncrossed his arms since he'd gotten into the car.

"I heard that there's high-speed internet up at the house now," Xander said, glancing up at the rear-view mirror.

Leo untangled himself. Slightly. "Meh," he said, but without any resentment.

They had a big birthday dinner for Corrin. She made sure to save a piece of cake for Azura and ran out, first thing the next morning, to the beach. To her relief, she saw seals, even though she and her siblings were a week earlier than usual. Azura had said the selkies usually stayed in one place for about a month, but Corrin had never asked her when that month fell. It seemed that she had made the right call to ask for this month off. Corrin ran to the tide pools, laughing to the open sky. "Azura! Azura, I'm here!"

Her run slowed to a stop when she realized the tide pools were deserted. There was no pelt nearby, no footprints. No singing, either. She bit her tongue, casting her eyes about. "Azura?"

A gull cried overhead.

 _Maybe she's with her pod,_ Corrin thought. She approached the sunning seals at a respectful pace, crinkling her nose. The smell was...something else. A few of the seals looked at her with bored, golden eyes.

"Excuse me," she said. "I'm a friend of Azura."

At that, the seals shifted so they were no longer looking at her. Corrin felt like someone had struck her in the chest.

"Please! Can one of you tell me where Azura is?" she called out. When none of the seals responded in any way, she started running through the pod, passing between the lounging bodies. "Azura! She's a selkie like you and she has long blue hair and she's my friend and I want to know where she is!"

She was stopped in her tracks by a seal who was drawn up so that they stared at her right in the eyes. The sealskin fell away to reveal a woman with blue hair that was cut in such a way that it cupped her face. Her eyes were thin and filled with sadness. "Your name is Corrin, is it not?"

Corrin swallowed. Something bad had happened, hadn't it. "That it is."

"Corrin, my name is Arete. Azura is my daughter," the woman explained. "You have been a good friend to her."

Corrin's throat was almost too tight for her to speak, but she managed: "Where is she?"

Arete's eyes fell to the sand, whiskers trembling. "We had to leave her behind," she said. "Poachers had taken her pelt."

The wind blew through Corrin's hair. Normally, she liked the sensation, but her back burned with tension and she couldn't bear any more stimulation. She clasped her head so that the wind wouldn't tug at it. "That's...no...no, that's horrible..."

Corrin knew selkie stories inside and out. An overwhelming amount of them were tragic, and they were always about stolen skins.

"She could not swim with us," Arete said. "If she is fortunate, one of the poachers will realize what they took, and promise it back to her." The way she said it made it obvious she did not believe it would be very _fortunate_ for Azura.

"Where did you leave her?"

Arete regarded Corrin with an even gaze. After a weighty pause, she said, "We come here from Shirasagi. A city by the coast."

"Shirasagi? Is that where she is?" It was a few hours away in a fast car.

"And we have been here for a week."

Corrin blinked.

"We may not look it, but selkies can live off of our stores for...a time. But, even the most well-fed selkie would start to starve after a week of not being able to hunt."

Corrin clasped her hands to keep them still. "I will look for her," she said.

Arete closed her eyes. She gave Corrin a nod heavy with doubt. Then, she pulled her pelt over her head and once again was a seal.

"Thank you, Arete," Corrin said.

Arete turned away. Corrin made her way out of the pod and went back to the beach house.

Elise was in the parlor when she came in. "Back so soon? Yikes, you smell like dead fish! Take a shower!"

"Where's Xander?" Corrin asked, ignoring the comment about the smell.

"Should be in the study. Why?"

"Oh, nothing," Corrin said, and she knew immediately that nobody would believe that. "I, uh, want to borrow the car."

"Well, good luck with that," Elise said. "What do you need the car for?"

"I want to..." Corrin turned around and pretended to look through the bookshelf. "Go shopping in Shirasagi."

"You'd have better luck asking Camilla. She likes shopping in Shirasagi."

"Thanks, Elise."

"I want to come too!"

Corrin bit her lip. The more of her siblings that came, the more likely they would wonder what she was actually trying to accomplish.

"In fact, I'm going to ask Camilla right now while you clean up! Xander won't let you go if you're going to stink up his car," Elise said, getting up.

"Thanks..." Corrin said, rubbing the back of her head. A shower would let her put together a plan of action, too. What was she going to do if she found Azura...?

Azura would be hungry. And would probably need clothes...

* * *

Corrin was the last person to get ready - she had to put together a backpack full of things she thought Azura would need. All of her siblings were already in the car by the time she got out of the house. She stopped in front of it.

"Hurry up, darling! We need to get going if we want to have lunch in Shirasagi!" Camilla called, giving the horn a short beep.

"How come Leo's here?" Corrin asked.

"He wants to get a manga comic book," Xander said.

"It's an _artbook_ for a manga series," Leo corrected him.

Corrin sighed. She got into the car without another word.

"You've never been to Shirasagi, have you, Corrin?" Camilla asked. "And neither has little Elise."

"I hear they make really pretty clothes!" Elise piped up.

"The prettiest little numbers you ever did see! They work with all sorts of furs, too: mink, sheepskin, sealskin..."

Horror licked like fire through Corrin's body.

* * *

Shirasagi was not like Corrin had imagined it to be. She imagined a little cozy town with a few specialty shops, like the one where the beach house was. Something quiet.

Shirasagi was a city with a harbor. Not a beach. It was actually a lot like the city of Windmire.

"Alright, Corrin. Do you have any idea where you would like to go?" Xander asked.

Corrin swallowed thickly. She bit her lip. "Umm...I want to see the water."

"You don't want to go shopping right now?" Elise said. "You said that's what you wanted!"

"I can go shopping _later_ , I just...I like water, okay? You guys know I like water!"

"The water's going to be dirty," Leo said. "It's not open to anything other than boats."

Corrin fought the urge to sigh, fingering the strap of her backpack.

"I'll go with Corrin to the harbor," Camilla crossed her arms.

"What! Really?" Elise said.

"We have a few hours until it gets dark. I'm sure she just wants to look at the boats for a bit before then," Camilla said, draping a hand on Corrin's shoulder. "Don't you, sweetie?"

"Yeah," Corrin said, hoping that she sounded convincing.

"I can take care of these two, then," Xander said. "Text us when you're ready for lunch."

"Have fun looking at boats!" Elise said, leading the way down the street. Camilla waved until they were out of sight.

"Alright now," she said, tapping her fingers on Corrin's shoulder. "Are you ready to tell your big sister what you're so anxious about?"

Corrin couldn't meet Camilla's eyes. Other than bits and pieces, none of her siblings knew about her relationship with Azura. ...If it was even a relationship. Was Azura still even here? Corrin felt stupid all of a sudden. "I'm trying to meet someone here," she managed to say.

"Well, I hope it isn't a private meeting, because you're stuck with me," Camilla said. "So tell me: where are you meeting this person?"

"Ahh..." Corrin glanced around. There were information signs outlining the various tourist draws in Shirasagi. She had a look. Piers...various 'old Shirasagi' streets...ah, there! "There are seal viewing places near the docks!"

"You like seals, don't you?" Camilla said, walking alongside Corrin. "Would you ever want to wear one?"

"No!" Corrin said quickly. Sure, she had put on Azura's pelt, before she knew what it meant to Azura. And sometimes Azura let Corrin dry herself off with her pelt after they'd gone swimming. But she would never want to turn a sealskin, selkie or otherwise, into a coat or something.

"You like them as animals too much, I suppose," Camilla said. "Some of them are very soft, though!"

Corrin looked straight ahead. The streets in Shirasagi were bright and clean.

"Tell me about this person you're meeting," Camilla's voice had just a touch of ice in it.

"She's a friend."

"Tell big sister about this girl friend. I want to know about her."

"She's not my girlfriend--! I mean, maybe? Wait," Corrin covered her mouth. She could feel the weight of Camilla's gaze burning into her, even though she was on the side that Camilla parted her hair over her face.

Camilla's smile was very serene. Corrin knew that smile. It was one of Camilla's most dangerous ones.

"You wouldn't mind introducing me to this young lady, wouldn't you, darling?" Camilla said. "I'd like to see why my little sister likes her so much!"

Corrin felt her spirit evaporating from her scalp. She managed a nod.

"Well, here we are at the docks. No seals, though."

Corrin scanned the area. There were wooden platforms floating on the water. Other than a few bored gulls, the platforms were empty. A few signs talking about seals and their migrations explained that they were usually present and sunning a few months out of the year. This month was not one of them.

"Corrin? What's wrong, sweetie?"

Corrin paced the docks. Why hadn't she asked Arete where Azura could be? She was out of ideas!

"Here, Corrin, there's a bench -- ah, never mind, someone's passed out on it. Poor thing," Camilla said.

Corrin looked over her shoulder. Her heart skipped a beat. Under a pile of newspaper, that bench had messy hair spilling all over it, hair that would be blue if it was clean. " _Azura!_ "

Azura stirred. Corrin was at her side in an instant, rifling through her backpack. "Azura, I met your mom, she told me what happened to you -- I have soup and clothes, what do you want first?"

Azura's golden eyes barely had any light in them. She grasped Corrin's hand with feeble fingers. "I'm cold," she said. Corrin put a jacket over her body. "I...don't think I have any fat left."

Corrin smacked her forehead. Why had she picked a low-fat soup to put in the thermos? Wait, where was her thermos!?

Camilla poured out a cup of soup and was looking dangerously composed. "Corrin, sweetie, can you sit her up?"

Corrin almost yelped. "S-sure!"

Azura looked so small in the outfit Corrin had picked out for her, but at least she wasn't nude once she put it on. She nestled between Corrin and Camilla like a baby bird as she sipped soup and water.

"So, Corrin. Is this your friend?" Camilla asked casually.

Corrin nodded, fiddling with her hands.

"What's the story?"

Corrin opened her mouth to explain, but Azura shook her head. Camilla noted this with a slight scowl.

"Azura, was it?" Camilla began, her voice rich with smoothness and sugar. "Corrin and I were just about to join our siblings for lunch. Won't you come with us?"

Corrin looked at Azura. Azura looked at her soup. She gave a hesitant nod.

* * *

The six of them met at a sushi bar. Azura's whiskers were a source of great curiosity.

"So now we know Corrin loves seals so much!" Elise declared. "She has a seal friend!"

"She's more than _just_ a seal. She's closer to a mermaid," Leo said around a piece of tempura. "By the way, is it true that selkies drown people?"

"You can't just _ask_ her that!" Corrin said, smacking his elbow.

"I am also curious," Xander said, giving her a sideways glance. "Some accidents at sea are written off as selkie...attacks. But there are also mermaid attacks," he added casually.

Azura stared at the sashimi platter in front of her with great sadness, as if she suspected such a beautiful arrangement had been poisoned. She glanced up from her plate, saw that eyes were on her, and ducked her head back down.

"Some pods attack people," she said finally. "My pod does not. We are a peaceful group."

"And what about selkies kidnapping young women?" Camilla asked. "Is that just a myth?"

Corrin was about to say something, but Azura shook her head. "That's...that's the men; sometimes they marry women from the land. It's not kidnapping. And it's frowned upon, generally."

"I heard selkies sing," Elise said.

"I do sing," Azura said.

"I heard their songs are _really dangerous_."

Azura paled. "...I only sing when I'm with my pod," she offered. "They are pod songs. To let everyone know we're still together."

Xander nodded with a firm "Hmm." Camilla murmured an idle "That's good." Leo took three pieces of spicy tuna roll and ate them in one bite, which was a little trick of his he liked to do when he wanted to unsettle or impress someone. Elise sipped some tea.

Corrin couldn't bear to see Azura staring at her food without touching it, so she helped Azura fit her fork in her hand. "Hey, I know my brothers and sisters can be kind of weird, but they're really alright," she whispered. "They don't know much about you."

"Will this ever stop?" Azura asked in a small, tired voice.

"You're my friend, Azura. Once they realize that, they'll open up to you."

Azura's fingers were clumsy around the utensils. She spent a few moments trying to figure it out, her expression falling every second. Then she threw the fork away from her, covering her face with her hands. "Enough! Just -- just let me drown, or something!"

"Azura!" Corrin hovered her hands around the other girl's shoulders. Azura shook with quiet sobs. Corrin pulled her into a hug.

"I don't want to be here just as much as you don't want me here!" Azura cried. "I miss the ocean! I miss my mother and the pups and everyone in the pod. I want to go back!"

Silence hung over the table. Corrin hugged Azura tighter, closing her eyes against the light and from the stares of her siblings.

"Corrin," Xander said. "Will you explain to us what happened to this young lady?"

Azura made a tiny squeaking noise. Corrin patted her hair - it was grimy and not very pleasant to touch - in what she hoped was a soothing gesture. "Azura, I'm going to tell them," she said.

"Why bother," Azura said in a voice hushed with bitterness.

"Because they might be able to help."

Azura clung to Corrin's shirt.

The story flowed out of Corrin: discovering the selkie skin during her first summer at the beach house, the excitement of seeing Azura every year, her conversation with Arete, and why Azura hadn't been able to rejoin her pod. Her siblings listened without interruption, eyes moving from Corrin to Azura and back.

"Azura, is this true?" Xander asked.

"It's true," Azura said. "...Though I can't confirm the part about my mother."

"You weren't there, dearie," Camilla said.

"Do you want us to take to the beach house? To your family?" Corrin asked.

Azura's whiskers twitched. She looked up with watery eyes, clearly taken by surprise that she would ever get the opportunity. "I...I shouldn't move from here. The person who took my pelt might come back..."

Leo leaned his cheek on his fist. "If they wanted to give it back, they would have done so by now," he said.

Azura's gaze fell to the table. Her lower lip trembled and she turned towards Corrin's shoulder. "But if I go to my pod...what will I do when they leave?" she asked in a small voice.

"Would they leave you behind again?" Corrin asked.

"They have no choice. I can't swim with them."

"But it's not your fault you can't swim!"

"A family that leaves one of theirs behind is hardly a family at all," Camilla said, with a regal scowl. Elise punctuated that statement with a nod and a scowl of her own.

Corrin hugged Azura's waist - her tiny, tiny waist. "Don't worry, Azura. I won't leave you behind," she said in a whisper.

A whisper that was apparently heard around the table, because she saw several nods in response. Xander pulled out his phone and started looking through it.

"You should eat, Azura," Corrin said, nudging her so she was sitting up. "These are fish you should know! See, this is tuna. You ate a whole tuna once, remember?" she picked up a piece of tuna with her fork.

Azura stared at the dangling piece of meat. After a moment, she opened her mouth for it. Her whiskers twitched with delight as she chewed on it.

"I was exaggerating when I said I ate a whole tuna," she said after she swallowed.

"That's okay. Do you think you can eat a whole tuna now?"

"I am _very_ hungry," Azura said instead.

"Here! Have some of this! And this!" Elise said, passing some bowls over.

"Elise, that's mine," Leo mumbled.

"You weren't eating it!"

Azura's appetite returned, bit by bit. And while it was clear she was not happy, it was also evident that she was feeling much better.

"I'm trusting you with the keys, Camilla," Xander said as he took care of the bill.

Camilla's eye flashed. She had enough self-control not to grin, though. "I appreciate it. But why won't you be driving?"

"Because I'm going to be making some calls," he said.

"Oh? What's this about?"

"I'm going to see if anyone has sold an intact seal pelt in Shirasagi within the past week."

Elise gasped when she realized what was going on. Corrin searched for Azura's hand under the table.

"Xander dear, I appreciate the thought, but you should leave that sort of investigating to me," Camilla said, pulling out her phone. "I have contacts in the fur and textiles around here."

"Then we have business and furs covered," Xander said. "That also means..." he looked at Corrin. She shook her head, indicating Azura with a tip of her head.

Xander did not sigh. But he was quiet as his gaze fell upon Leo.

Leo steepled his fingers under his chin. "Oh, so _I'm_ driving now...?"

* * *

Azura was quiet the whole drive home. She was quiet as she and Corrin made their way across the beach. Corrin stood some distance away as Azura hobbled over to the seal colony. One of the seals approached and Azura dropped to her knees, sobbing. Arete put aside her sealskin to hold her daughter for a time.

The sun set and cold swept across the beach. Azura made her way back to Corrin, and the two of them went back to the beach house.

Corrin found Azura curled up in a ball on the couch one bath and change of clothes later. She had a blanket draped around her body to mimic the weight of a pelt. Her eyes and nose were red and raw, but she wasn't crying at the moment. Corrin sat next to her and allowed Azura to rest her weight against her body.

The house sound system awakened with soft, easy listening music. Azura closed her eyes. Her hand sought out Corrin's. It was cold, so Corrin started rubbing it with her thumb.

They hadn't been together for very long when Elise tiptoed towards the couch, hiding something behind her back. "Hey?" she inquired in a small voice.

Azura blinked at her.

Elise produced what she was hiding: a set of Blu-rays. "Have you ever heard about _Falchion Friends_?"

Azura blinked at the Blu-rays. Elise's eyes shone.

"I'm going to make popcorn," Corrin said.

"What's popcorn," Azura asked.

"Delicious."

Azura managed a weak smile.

* * *

Corrin barely saw Xander or Camilla for the next few weeks. She was busy taking care of Azura, who seemed to be wasting away every day, despite a healthy appetite.

Corrin slept on the couch, letting Azura have her room. One night, Azura stopped her.

"I'm very lonely at night," Azura explained. "The pod sleeps together. I can't bear not having someone close by."

"Oh! Oh, you want to...sleep together?" Corrin blushed despite herself. Azura nodded.

The bed was a little small for two, but it was surprisingly comfortable to snuggle up close to Azura. Her skin was cool and smooth compared to the soft warmth of the sheets.

"Good night, Azura."

Azura was quiet for a time.

"Corrin?"

"Yeah?"

"Do humans mate for life?"

Corrin wanted to cross her legs all of a sudden. She couldn't do that without shifting the sheets around, though, and Azura would definitely notice that. "Well...um...no, we don't. We make promises. And sometimes they don't work out."

Azura's eyes didn't glow in the dark, but they still seemed sort of bright in moonlight. It was something Corrin was slowly discovering she liked looking at.

"Most selkies mate for life," Azura explained in a soft voice. "But, accidents happen. Sometimes it is for the good of a pod for a widowed selkie to find another."

Corrin swallowed. She didn't especially know why Azura wanted to talk about this. It was kind of morbid. What, was she implying she was already taken but she thought she was going to die...? That made her heart hurt - not just the idea that Azura had someone else, maybe, but that she thought she was going to die. Wasn't she comfortable here?

...Wasn't she safe? Corrin was doing her best to keep her safe...

"I'm sorry. You must want to sleep," Azura said. "Good night, Corrin."

Corrin closed her eyes, sighing. She felt whiskers twitching near her face, and then it was still and quiet.

* * *

Corrin woke up early the next morning. There was a wrapped gift waiting for her on the table.

"Happy birthday, lil' sis," Camilla said in a quiet voice. Her hair looked like it hadn't been tidied that morning, but she didn't seem to care. "Want coffee?"

"Yeah," Corrin said, having a seat and blinking blearily at the present. "My birthday's over already though. You already gave me a ton of presents."

Camilla held a finger up to her lips and pointed at the couch. Xander was stretched out on it in a completely undignified way, still in the previous day's clothes. Corrin gasped and pressed her lips together.

Camilla put a cup and saucer of coffee in front of Corrin. "Well! One more present wouldn't hurt, would it? Try not to make too much noise opening it though."

Corrin opened the present as slowly and carefully as she could. Underneath the wrapping paper was a layer of tissue...and then...

"No way," she whispered, holding up a shining pelt. "Oh my god. I hope this is it."

"I hope so too," Camilla said. "Xander and I had to break up a whole _thing_ in order to get it." She waved vaguely.

"I'm gonna show Azura," Corrin said, getting up. She gave Camilla a kiss on the cheek. "Thanks!"

"Thank him," Camilla tipped her head towards the couch at the same time she shooed Corrin away. "Once you've given your present."

"Oh, right, I should wrap it back up, maybe..."

Camilla's shooing became more insistent. Corrin scurried back to her room.

"Azura?"

Corrin kneeled at the side of the bed. Azura opened her eyes blearily.

"Corrin...?"

"How are you feeling?"

Azura closed her eyes and stretched under the covers. She wiped at her eyes before opening them again. She looked alert, but still sad. "Better. Thank you for last night."

Corrin grinned. She pulled the covers off of Azura.

"Corrin, please, I'm cold," Azura protested weakly, curling up.

"Here, I got you something to keep you warm," Corrin beamed, throwing the sealskin with a flourish above Azura's body. It drifted down slowly.

Azura's eyes went wide when it touched her.

"So, is it...?" Corrin began.

Azura sat up, tearing borrowed clothes off of her body. Corrin barely had the presence of mind to tell her to stop before Azura stood, totally nude, and flung the pelt over her body.

A seal, the scrawniest Corrin had ever seen, sat in the middle of Corrin's room where Azura had just been. She barked with joy and rolled on the floor.

"Azura!" Corrin cheered, dancing around the rolling seal. "Azura, we found your skin! You can swim now!"

Azura bounced to her feet, catching Corrin in a spinning hug. She pressed cool lips to Corrin's.

Oh.

It was a short kiss, one that tasted like morning moss and salt. Corrin wanted approximately one hundred more of them.

Azura pulled away, grinning so brightly she could make flowers bloom. "Come to the beach with me, Corrin!"

"I haven't had breakfast yet!"

"Take breakfast with you!"

Azura ran through the house and out into the sea, laughing the whole way. She rolled on the sand as a seal, then as a girl, then as a seal again.

"Azura! Azura, wait!" Corrin panted, trying to keep up with the ecstatic selkie. She caught Azura's hand and dragged her towards the tide pools.

"I want to swim! Swim with me, Corrin!"

"Azura, you should show someone your pelt!"

Calm returned to Azura's features. She nodded, still panting with giddiness, and walked alongside Corrin as they made their way to the part of the beach where the selkies rested.

One seal sat up to look at them as they approached. Then another. Then three more. Then, a barking chorus made its way through the colony.

Azura put on her pelt and made her way towards the group, joining the barking. Another seal, one Corrin found familiar, touched noses with Azura. The two seals rested their heads on each other's shoulders. Then, Arete rose, along with Azura.

"Thank you for returning my daughter to me," Arete said. "For returning her pelt to her."

"I..." Corrin swallowed thickly. She felt like crying, though she wasn't sure if it would be happy tears or not. "I didn't find the pelt. It was my brother and sister, they did everything. I just..."

"You found me," Azura said. "You kept me here." She walked over to Corrin to give her a hug. "If you hadn't been with me, I would have...hurt myself."

Corrin clung to Azura's body and buried her face in her hair.

"Thank you, Corrin." Azura nuzzled Corrin's face. Corrin murmured at the soft sensation of whiskers against her cheeks.

* * *

The summer of Corrin's twentieth birthday was bound to be a hot one. She pulled up to the beach house, sighing. For a tense second, she wondered if she wouldn't be able to open the garage with the remote Xander gave her, but everything went smoothly.

The beach house always had some kind of background music - Leo's, Elise's, maybe Xander's, if he was annoyed and wanted to blast classical opera on the house sound system. This time, it was quiet as she came in. Corrin sighed at the silence and the space that she had never realized could exist before. She could do anything here this year. She could snoop in her siblings' rooms. She could make food for herself. She could lie on the couch and do absolutely, positively nothing.

While that last option _did_ seem very attractive, she walked out onto the deck, shading her eyes against the sun. In the distance, she could see seals playing in the water. She put on her sandals and walked out onto the beach, towards the tide pools.

Corrin grinned when streams of blue hair came into view. She waved, giving a happy shout as she approached. Azura turned, beaming, and patted the rock next to her.

She looked healthy and well. The sealskin tied around her neck was clean and shiny. Corrin had a seat and rested her shoulder against Azura's. Then, she pulled the other girl into a tight hug.

"Azura, I'm so glad to see you! I have so much to talk about..."

"Tell me everything," Azura said.

"Xander got a promotion and he might be taking over Father's company in like, three years? He should, in any case. Leo won a big Swordcraft tournament - Swordcraft is this game; you, uh, make units and you have them fight other units and kill buildings or something - and he got this huge scholarship with it and he wants to study Japanese! 'Cause he has this pen pal over there or whatever and he said he wants to swear at him in his native language, I don't know. Camilla's edited a bunch of commercials and she can't talk about the project she's doing right now but I think she's working on a movie? Like a real movie! Anyway, it feels like everyone's getting a job except me and I'm by myself this year so the house is mine and I don't know what I'm going to do with a full week off and I want to cook things but I just realized I don't know how to work the stove over there? I think it's magnetic? Magnets, Azura, you can cook things with them, did you know that? Oh, and Elise is talking about _boys_ that want to spend time with her; I don't think she's ready for that! _I'm_ not ready for that. For Elise to be with boys. Oh my god."

"Elise is a good pup. She'll take care of herself," Azura gave Corrin's forehead a nuzzle. Her whiskers tickled at Corrin's hairline. All of Corrin's thoughts died at that touch. She had so many frustrations she wanted to tell Azura about when she was driving here, but it all seemed...far away now. Why bring it up? She was here to relax.

"What about you? Anything interesting?" Azura asked. "Any... _boys_?"

Corrin stuck her tongue out with a retching noise. "Come on, nobody wants to court _me_."

"If you say so, I'll believe it," Azura said with a wry grin, turning towards the wind. The two of them listened to the waves awhile.

"Hey, Azura."

"Hmm?"

"My siblings aren't here this time around and I was wondering...do you want to stay in the house with me this week?" Corrin stared at her folded hands.

Azura's toes flexed just within peripheral vision. "...I would like to finish watching _Falchion Friends_ ," she said. "I want to know what happens with the skeleton dragon. That was my favorite part."

"Oh. That's Elise's least favorite part."

"Well, Elise isn't here, though we do miss her," Azura said, whiskers twitching happily. She stood and held her hands out to pull Corrin up.

"What sort of popcorn do you want?"

"All of them."

Corrin laughed and wrapped an arm around Azura's waist. Whiskers tickled against her face when she went in to give Azura's cheek a nuzzle.

It didn't take long for the two of them to be curled up on the couch, bowls of popcorn between them and Azura's sealskin draped across their bodies like a blanket. Corrin's eyes kept wandering over to watch Azura's whiskers twitch as she chewed.

Everything about her was...perfect. Cute, or pretty, or just wonderful. Corrin knew that those thoughts were typical of a crush. But they were true, honestly.

"Azura?"

"Hmm?" Azura turned away from the screen so she could look at Corrin. There were popcorn crumbs in her whiskers. Adorable.

"Are there boys? Boy selkies?"

"Yes," Azura said in a flat tone. "That's how we make baby selkies."

Corrin blushed and stared at the bowl of popcorn she was holding. There wasn't much left. "Do you...do you get a lot of boy selkies asking after you?"

Azura didn't say anything for a while. Then, she chuckled. "No, I don't. I don't get girl selkies asking after me either, if you were wondering."

"Oh, good," Corrin sighed, slumping against the couch. She snapped back up straight when she realized how rude she sounded. "...I mean, I'm sorry! Um, why don't you? You're pretty, and you sing really well, and you're a good listener --"

A kiss at her cheek quieted her. Azura's smile was soft and warm.

"Everyone understands I'm already mated," she said, resting her chin on Corrin's shoulder.

Corrin blinked. Onscreen, Mega Marth struck the final blow against the skeleton dragon and made it explode into thousands of sparkling stars.

"Oh. _Oh_ ," Corrin said, covering her face with her hands. Her cheeks burned under her fingers. "Wow. Uh. Mated? Really?"

"As in I have a mate."

"Right! Right," Corrin's hands slid down so they covered her grin. She tried to contain a giggle and failed miserably. The Falchion Friends started singing their victory song. Corrin leaned in to kiss Azura's face, whiskers and crumbs and all.


End file.
